NYC

A four-story tall penis has popped up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and gotten a lot of people talking about it.

On Christmas Eve, graffiti artist Carolina Falkholt decided to paint the giant penis on the side of an NYC apartment building standing on Broome Street between Forsyth and Eldridge Streets.

As she says on her Instagram post, where she shares a picture of the pink penis, “I have never heard so much laughter and seen so many happy faces behind my back when painting as for today doing this wall on Broome Street.”

But despite all that laughter and fun, there were many people who weren’t so pleased to see the image.

Many commenters expressed their outrage and disgust towards Falkholt for placing her penis on the building and call it an act of public indecency.

"This is the most disgusting gross display of street art. It’s one thing to have this in your home but to have this in public where families live and walk by is a major lack of respect"

Others said it was wrong of her to point this up in their neighborhood.

"Y’all Wnna come mess up are neighborhood with what you think it’s cool but it’s really not. Can’t wait till it’s removed and it will happen. We don’t play that in the Lower East Side," wrote one user.

District 1 Community Education Council president Naomi Pena has asked the New Allen, a street art foundation, to remove the penis.

"Contrary to what developers and the folks you see in the street, there are thousands of people in this neighborhood who are raising their children here. While I’m gathering you may not have any children or may not live here to have to walk by and see this, i certainly was not happy to have to explain to my 8-year-old twins what this was," wrote Pena.

As for Falkholt, she says that this image, and another one on Pike Street that depicts a vagina, are meant to start conversations about sexuality.

She says they’re “about not being ashamed of your body and who you are as a sexual being."

"Talking about these subjects in public space is a must for a healthy, nonviolent community/world," she said. "And the dialogue created around feminist public art pieces raises awareness."

“In light of what’s going on the world, all threats must be taken very seriously,” said Hikind in a Facebook post. “We’re not waiting for an incident before addressing a threat.

“Fortunately, our community and myself have an excellent relationship with law enforcement—and the NYPD is the best there is at addressing criminal activity."

“Hate crimes are serious matters. This threat against one of our community’s beloved establishments, which used the U.S. mail, is absolutely a hate crime."

“It’s sad that we live in a time when such disgusting things are said about various races, including the Jews, but we will certainly take these matters seriously when they arise and act swiftly and responsibly, in tandem with the police, to make sure our community members are safe and protected.”

The police are investigating the letters to find out the people behind them, but in the meantime Hikind has told people to report to their local precinct if they receive a similar letter.